"What's with the long face, Bakugo? You scared?" Sukuna smirked at Bakugo who himself had a tense expression, as he, Class 1-A and the teachers were transported by two UA's buses to an uninhabited training city area, where their exercise test will take place.
"Shut the hell up, bastard! I'm not scared!" Bakugo angrily whispered to him. Izuku, originally tense, started chuckling a little.
"Oi nerd, who gave you permission to laugh! Don't think just cuz you're All Might's golden boy or something that he's gonna go easy on you!" Bakugo accused. Izuku smiled, raising his hands.
"I know that, Kacchan. But what's the point of worrying so much if it's just going to ruin our performance later on? I say we should start discussing strategy right now." Bakugo stared at Izuku, for the past two months, ever since Izuku entered UA, he has become a totally different person.
Unlike his middle school version, Izuku stopped stuttering as much, he's confident in himself and his abilities, and he somehow is able to talk to girls with a straight face, which Bakugo thought was practically impossible back then, but here was Izuku proving him wrong.
"Tch, whatever. Just tell us already, nerd." Bakugo crossed his arms, as he and Sukuna leaned closer to Izuku a little, trying to be discreet so as to not attract All Might's attention, the man only sitting a few seats away from them, still having his signature grin while sitting prim and properly like a schoolgirl.
"Well the plan is simple, we work together." An awkward silence followed as the two stared at the green haired boy.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME—" Bakugo's mouth was covered by Sukuna who sighed as he restrained the blonde. His tantrum gained the attention of the others on the bus. They stared for a while before shrugged, returning to what they were previously doing, as Bakugo's behavior was normal to them at this point.
"That already goes without saying, Izuku, though Is that really all you have?" Sukuna asked, still restraining Bakugo whose screams were muffled by his hand.
"Well, we have no idea what the nature of this test is, so there's no point coming up with a concrete plan or trying to guess what the test would be. We could be actually fighting All Might as the test, so that's why I proposed cooperation." Izuku whispered.
"Like I said, that goes without saying. I am not fighting All Might one on one." Sukuna mumbled, a rare humility showing from him, surprising Izuku.
"But what about that Nomu back at USJ, Shigaraki said—"
"I know what Shigaraki said..." Sukuna interrupted, remembering the villain's words about that Nomu being engineered to defeat All Might once and for all.
"It took my 100% to defeat that Nomu. It was by pure luck my final punch knocked it out. And defeating that Nomu doesn't necessarily translate to me being able to fare against All Might. And I'd rather not find out first hand." He mumbled, showing an annoyed look.
"That's why he's the greatest, you know." Izuku muttered with a smile. Sukuna raised an eyebrow. Izuku laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I mean, he got you to show humility, and you're one of the strongest guys I've ever met."
"Just great... You're doing tricks on it again, ya damn nerd." Bakugo grumbled, crossing his arms. Sukuna snorted, shaking his head.
"I see many saying that he's the greatest, while he does have a track record and the strength to prove it, no offense, I haven't had that moment where I sincerely felt that he was the Greatest Of All Time yet." Sukuna stated.
It was true, the amount of times Sukuna saw All Might on televsion, social media and news tabloids was uncountable, whether it showed the man fighting, in the middle of a press conference, randomly starring in an advertisement or making a cameo in a movie. But he just never truly believed that All Might was the greatest in his heart, even though there was more than enough evidence to prove it.
Izuku only smiled at the pink haired teen.
"Who knows, Sukuna? Maybe you'll find some of that feeling after this test."
...
"Alright! We'll be fighting right over here!" All Might declared, grinning down at the trio as he took out three handcuffs, handing one towards each one of them.
"You have thirty minutes to either handcuff me or one of your has to escape the stage to fulfill the condition of passing this test. Please, think of me as a nasty villain, so that you may give your all!"
'It's hard to imagine All Might as the villain... On second thought...' Izuku blinked, shaking his head.
"Us teachers will also be using these as handicaps!" All Might took out braces and started wrapping it around his wrists and shins. Sukuna raised an eyebrow, finding those devices to be familiar.
"These are high density weights, an invention of a certain young Hatsume, who won a competition for best design during the Sports Festival, with her invention now being patented and manufactured for schools all around Japan!" Sukuna blinked at All Might's words.
'So it is her invention. Well, I certainly didn't expect you to patent stuff.' He thought, specifically remembering that Mei wasn't that focused on making money just yet.
"Each weight adds about half of the wearer's body weight, meaning that my strength and stamina are heavily reduced! Oh crap, they heavier than I thought... Oh well, nothing serious!" All Might laughed as he wrapped the last bracelet on. It was then he noticed something.
"Oh my, those faces... They're full of disappointment! Don't tell me, you three actually want to fight me at full strength!" All Might laughed.
"Such spirit at such a young age! I am truly impressed!" He nodded, before scratching the back of his head. "But Recovery Girl is monitoring us as we speak, and I am one hundred percent sure she would kill me if she saw that I went full power on you three."
The three blinked, understanding All Might's reasons, now not really disappointed. The nurse's wrath was much more terrifying than five All Mights combined.
"Let's not waste anymore time, young men! Get to your positions, the battle is about to commence!" The three men nodded, retreating to a distance far away from All Might.
As they were about one and a half kilometers away from All Might, they heard a loud horn, signalling the start of their practical test.
The trio walked slowly, warily, having uneasy expressions on their faces. Just knowing that a grinning 7'3" absolute monstrosity was heading towards them, and not knowing when he was going to pop out was practically a nightmare.
"Aghh where the hell is he—" Just as Bakugo growled out in frustration, the building in front of them suddenly exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. The impact of the explosion was so strong it destroyed the surrounding buildings and amenities with it.
"You just had to say something huh?!" Sukuna shouted, shielding his eyes from the flying debris.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" A giant figure dashed out of the smoke at blinding speeds, appearing before Bakugo. Bakugo didn't even register what was happening before a fist slammed into his gut.
"Ughh!!!" He forcefully spat out saliva as he was sent blasting away, tumbling on the ground violently. Izuku stared in horror before he was slammed into a building by a singular punch.
Sukuna watched as All Might easily dispatched the two teens before the hero had set his sights on him. All Might charged towards Sukuna who widened his eyes in disbelief.
'He's faster than me—'
Barely raising his hands in time, Sukuna, who had already activated his Quirk a while ago, blocked All Mights punch with both arms, grunting in pain in the process as he was sent skidding back.
"Gah!!" Sukuna reflexively gasped, his eyes widened like saucers before rolling back a little as he was then punched straight in the chest. His vision splickered, as he was sent crashing into a building.
"Heh!" All Might grinned as he stared at his work. A moment passed.
"Huh? Did I already knock them out?" All Might questioned, looking at his weighted braces. "Are these things actually working?"
He then snapped towards a certain building, hearing footsteps. He watched Sukuna walked out of the building, his body completely uninjured, while his hero outfit was somewhat shredded.
"Man... Now I have to rebuild this again?" Sukuna grumbled as he clenched his attire.
With a dramatic flair, he ripped his shirt off, revealing his muscular torso full of black markings.
"Oh ho! Impressive muscles, young man! How heavy do you lift?"
Sukuna smiled a little. "300kg without my Quirk."
"Nice!" All Might gave him a thumbs up.
Sukuna looked around him, his composure returning, pain receding, and the ringing in his head slowly fading.
"Don't pretend to be unconscious, idiots. We have a summer camp to go to, remember?" Sukuna stated as Izuku and Bakugo slowly got up, groaning a little.
Bakugo spat at the ground before he grinned at All Might. Meanwhile, green lightning crackled around Izuku as he went up to 14%, currently the amount of power he could safely handle. Both of them, stood by Sukuna's side, staring at the Number One Hero.
All Might cracked his knuckles, his grin widening noticing their determined gazes, their fighting spirit stronger than ever.
"That's what I like to see! Now give me all you got! I'm not holding back!"
"RIGHT!!!" The trio shouted in unison, sliding into their fighting stances.
The fight's only started.
And it'll continue on the next chapter....